No one had expected that her “survival of the fittest” would be taken so literally. They had heard that demonic cultivators were brutal, but most of them were young and inexperienced. Now, hearing Man’s terrifying words, their vivid imaginations could even conjure up scenes of themselves being bound by venomous snakes, stripped naked, with cold blades slicing their flesh.
For a moment, panic spread across the deck.
“Can you still move?”
Despite the absolute suppression of her cultivation, Wu Yan’s voice was soft.
“Barely.”
Ji Xuerou waved her hand. Wu Yan could feel how weak her body was—right now, her support was all that kept Ji Xuerou standing.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. What a pity~”
After the intense battle, Wu Yan (Inner) finally appeared. She perched on Wu Yan’s other shoulder, her tone dripping with schadenfreude. “If it were her past life, she could have beaten this one easily.”
Speaking of Ji Xuerou’s past life, Wu Yan (Inner) once again recalled that terrifying convergence of seven types of spiritual power. Thankfully, that person hadn’t managed to collect the eighth type back then—otherwise, there would have been no legend of Demon Venerable Wu Yan (Inner) in the previous era.
“With your current strength, no matter what you do, you can’t defeat her.” Wu Yan (Inner)’s breath brushed against Wu Yan’s ear as she used a seductive tone to tempt her. “Why not let me take over now? I guarantee I can deal with her in no time. How about it?”
“Even if I use the Soul Governance Art?”
With just this one sentence, Wu Yan shut Wu Yan (Inner) up.
Using the Soul Governance Art would certainly work, but Wu Yan (Inner) would never allow things to go that far. Given the current state of Wu Yan’s Soul Origin, using the Soul Governance Art once more would mean even storming the underworld couldn’t bring her back.
“Hmph, it’s not like you don’t have that old woman as a last resort. It won’t come to that.” Huffing angrily, Wu Yan (Inner) vanished again.
“Catch this!”
The black greatsword, accompanied by a rancid green mist, slashed horizontally at Wu Yan. Pushing off the ground, Wu Yan leaped into the air with Ji Xuerou, narrowly dodging the strike.
But her assault wasn’t over. As the horizontal slash missed, she twisted her wrist, and the black greatsword, propelled by immense force, turned into a vertical chop.
Faced with her relentless attacks, Wu Yan, burdened by the injured Ji Xuerou, couldn’t dodge in time and had no choice but to take it head-on.
Wu Nian clashed against the greatsword. Despite Wu Nian’s sharpness, carving a notch into the blade where they met, the combined cultivation of the fused entity was terrifying. Coupled with their immense strength and poison gas, Wu Yan was sent stumbling back, crashing with Ji Xuerou onto the deck, smashing a large hole into it.
“Heh, not bad.” She raised the greatsword and glanced at the notch on the blade, a dismissive smile on her face. “But that’s about it.”
She lifted the greatsword high, the magic power of her Mid Transformation God Stage boiling within her. Behind her, the phantom of a blood-armored, muscle-bound demonic figure emerged. The black greatsword in the demonic figure’s hands was stained with blood-red patterns, while corrosive dark green poison gas swirled around it.
“Try this!”
The range of this attack was absurdly wide, encompassing the entire spirit boat.
Lin Wan’er arrived on the deck, her voice amplified with spiritual power echoing across the area. “Everyone, channel your spiritual power into the boat’s defensive formation! Pour all your spiritual power into the formation!”
After placing Ji Xuerou in a completely safe spot, Wu Yan leaped back onto the deck. Trusting Wu Yan, the disciples followed her orders without a moment’s hesitation.
A rainbow-colored light rose from the bottom of the spirit boat, rapidly expanding outward until it formed a rainbow barrier covering the boat’s surface.
Boom—!
An explosive shockwave surged when the greatsword struck the barrier, ultimately splitting in two with the spirit boat as its center, shearing off large chunks from the peaks on either side.
A furious roar rang out as she flashed to the side of the spirit boat. The greatsword slammed heavily into the barrier, denting the rainbow shield inward.
“You might block it once, but can you block it a second time!”
If she kept this up, it was only a matter of time before the shield shattered.
Lin Wan’er, while treating those who had fainted from spiritual power depletion, also kept an eye on the situation. But if she called Elder Xia out now to save the day, and it turned out to be just a lure from the enemy, their preparations would be for nothing.
Standing at the front of the deck, the wind blew open Wu Yan’s tied-up hair.
After escaping the Ghost Domain, the spirit boat had resumed its journey. It would take only a few moments to enter the territory of Medicine King Valley.
With Xia Lingshuang hidden as their trump card, there was only one thing Wu Yan had to do: stall for as long as possible, at least until they entered Medicine King Valley’s domain. By then, with her master making a move and reinforcements from within the valley, even if this was just a bait, they had nothing to fear.
Closing her eyes, she felt the breath of the wind.
“As a demonic cultivator who practices the Three Corpses path, there’s no way her third incarnation would appear here.” That was what she had told herself when settling Ji Xuerou.
“Breathe in—breathe out—”
Letting out a long sigh, Wu Yan shut out all external disturbances. The fierce attacks, the panic on the deck—none of it mattered to her now.
Wu Nian trembled violently. The originally cyan spiritual power transformed into an ink-black liquid, swirling around the spirit boat.
“Hmm?” The sudden change drew a puzzled sound from her.
The ink-like liquid bound her movements. Her limbs were tightly restrained, rendering her momentarily unable to act. She pulled at her arms to break free, but doing so only tightened the bindings.
At the same time, a swarm of dismembered souls appeared before her eyes. Their appearances were utterly terrifying, and their deep, drawn-out voices resonated together. “You… are guilty…”
These were the souls of those who had died over the years under the law of survival of the fittest.
“Ferry of the Styx!”
This move, which Wu Yan had developed in the Illusionary Realm, was formidable precisely in this way. It wasn’t simply a single powerful strike but a technique imbued with law. The first stage, “River Styx,” would judge the opponent’s sins and turn them into chains that bound the foe. The second stage, “Ferry,” used those sins to deliver a terrifying blow.
Wu Nian in her hand was like an oar on a drifting boat—a single gentle stroke could stir up a wave of ripples.
Since she couldn’t dodge, she might as well take it head-on.
A wild grin curled her lips. She forcibly pulled her hands free, raised the greatsword, and fed all her magic power into it.
“Block this—!!”
The black water curtain was ultimately blocked, but at the cost of her dark green armor, which was scoured into cracks everywhere, rendered utterly useless.
With a slight shudder of her body, Wu Yan was knocked back by the residual force.
The depletion of spiritual power made Wu Yan’s head spin, and her consciousness began to blur.
In the last moment before losing consciousness, she vaguely felt herself fall into a warm embrace. A familiar voice sounded gently in her ear. “You did an amazing job. You’ve worked hard. Leave the rest to me.”
The wariness in her heart suddenly vanished. And so, Wu Yan fell into a peaceful unconsciousness.
In a dim, hidden cave, a dissatisfied female voice grumbled angrily. “I could have won! Why did I have to lose?”
“Because your mission was never to win,” a calm male voice explained to her.
“Damn it! I have the Three Corpses but can’t use them properly. What was That Lord thinking?”
“Oh—”
In the mirror, she had already been subdued by Xia Lingshuang. Everything happened as naturally as could be.
“The fuses have all been laid. All we have to do is wait.”
When his words ended, the cave fell into silence once more.
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